A performing arts facility and a bigger gymnastics building for a St. Albert club are some of the proposals that could be applying for city funding dollars in the new year.
The St. Albert Community Performing Arts Society is hoping to access city money via the Capital Partnership Program to build a new performing arts facility in the city, something president Michael McElroy sees a need for.
“This facility would be a home to those performing arts groups who wish to use it,” he said.
McElroy is also pastor of Grace Family Church. The building would be built around the existing church structure, using the land as part of its own contribution towards the project.
The facility would include performance space, rehearsal room and storage for groups that wanted to use it. McElroy and his colleagues have been working on developing the project for over two years.
The society’s members are hoping they’ll receive dollars through the Capital Partnership Program, which officially starts this Jan. 1.
“The city’s been very helpful,” McElroy said. That help has included forums to help hone the pitches that will be made once the program is live.
Dynamyx Gymnastics Club is getting ready to apply for the program as well. Board president Cathy Schwer said they’re hoping to build a bigger facility to accommodate the growing population of St. Albert.
“The process has been phenomenal,” Schwer said of the city’s preparations for the launch of the program. “I think it’s a great thing the city is offering.”
The city-funded Capital Partnership Program will offer community groups such as not-for-profit societies, charities or academic institutions the opportunity to apply to the city to get one-third of the funding covered from the municipal coffers to develop a new facility if the project meets the eligibility requirements.
The city’s contribution for a successful application would be a minimum of $500,000 to a maximum of $5-million. That contribution can be money, but also land or other in-kind offerings.
Eligible projects include facilities meant for recreation, major attractions, culture, community gathering, adding to the city’s “smart” capacity or enhancing the city’s competitiveness on a regional or provincial scale.
“It’s really an exciting time,” said Monique St. Louis, the director of Build St. Albert, the city department in charge of the program.
The program has been a couple of years in the making, with St. Louis organizing a few forums and other supports this year for groups that are interested in developing applications.
Advisory committee members were recently approved by council. The program will be in effect until Dec. 21, 2019.
St. Louis’ personal projection is that a few projects will be ready for the committee to consider in early 2015.
“There are a couple that are in the near stages of completion,” St. Louis said.
The first step off the will be to present a preliminary business case that provides a high level overview of the project.
The committee would review those cases and recommend to council if the projects should be supported by the city.
If that support is received, the applicants will go and work on detailed business plans to present.
St. Louis said the staged approach has been developed so groups don’t put a huge amount of work into developing a detailed plan only to not receive support.
Another forum is being hosted for interested groups this week to go over the 2015 timeline and offer other tools, like data analytics and demographic projections, for the groups to consider.
“I just think it’s a great pivotal time in the program to see where we go with it,” St. Louis said.
